The neural crest are bilaterally paired strips of cells arising in the ectoderm at the margins of the neural tube. These cells migrate to many different locations and differentiate into many cell types within the embryo. This means that many different systems (neural, skin, teeth, head, face, heart, adrenal glands, gastrointestinal tract) will also have a contribution fron the neural crest cells.

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The {{neural crest}} are bilaterally paired strips of cells arising in the ectoderm at the margins of the neural tube. These cells migrate to many different locations and differentiate into many cell types within the embryo. This means that many different systems (neural, skin, teeth, head, face, heart, adrenal glands, gastrointestinal tract) will also have a contribution fron the neural crest cells. An in vitro study{{#pmid:18689800|PMID18689800}} has shown neural crest cell migration occurs at different rates along the embryo axis between Carnegie stage 11 to 13 in week 4.

In the head region, neural crest cells migrate into the pharyngeal arches (as shown in movie below) forming [[E#ectomesenchyme|ectomesenchyme]] contributing tissues which in the body region are typically derived from mesoderm (cartilage, bone, and connective tissue).General neural development is also covered in Neural Notes.

In the head region, {{neural crest}} cells migrate into the pharyngeal arches (as shown in movie below) forming [[E#ectomesenchyme|ectomesenchyme]] contributing tissues which in the body region are typically derived from mesoderm (cartilage, bone, and connective tissue). General neural development is also covered in [[Neural System Development|Neural Notes]].

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{{Template:Systems}}

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{{Neural Crest Vignette‎‎}}

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<br>

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Use the links listed below to study development of specific neural crest populations.

* '''An essential role of variant histone h3.3 for ectomesenchyme potential of the cranial neural crest'''<ref name="PMID23028350"><pubmed>23028350</pubmed>| [http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002938 PLoS Genet.]</ref> "The neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific cell population that exhibits remarkable multipotency. Although derived from the neural plate border (NPB) ectoderm, cranial NC (CNC) cells contribute not only to the peripheral nervous system but also to the ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton. ...Surprisingly, embryo-wide expression of dominant mutant H3.3 had little effect on embryonic development outside CNC, indicating an unexpectedly specific sensitivity of CNC to defects in H3.3 incorporation. Whereas previous studies had implicated H3.3 in large-scale histone replacement events that generate totipotency during germ line development, our work has revealed an additional role of H3.3 in the broad potential of the ectoderm-derived CNC, including the ability to make the mesoderm-like ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton."

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* '''Krox20 defines a subpopulation of cardiac neural crest cells contributing to arterial valves and bicuspid aortic valve Development'''{{#pmid:29158447|PMID29158447}} "Although cardiac neural crest cells are required at early stages of arterial valve development, their contribution during valvular leaflet maturation remains poorly understood. Here, we show in mouse that neural crest cells from pre-otic and post-otic regions make distinct contributions to the arterial valve leaflets.... Our findings demonstrate a crucial role for Krox20 in arterial valve development and reveal that an excess of neural crest cells may be associated with bicuspid aortic valve." {{heart}}

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* '''Dbx1-expressing cells are necessary for the survival of the mammalian anterior neural and craniofacial structures'''<ref><pubmed>21552538</pubmed></ref> "Development of the vertebrate forebrain and craniofacial structures are intimately linked processes, the coordinated growth of these tissues being required to ensure normal head formation. In this study, we identify five small subsets of progenitors expressing the transcription factor dbx1 in the cephalic region of developing mouse embryos at E8.5. ... Our results demonstrate that dbx1-expressing cells have a unique function during head development, notably by controlling cell survival in a non cell-autonomous manner."

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* '''Analysis of early human neural crest development'''<ref><pubmed>20478300</pubmed></ref> "The outstanding migration and differentiation capacities of neural crest cells (NCCs) have fascinated scientists since Wilhelm His described this cell population in 1868. Today, after intense research using vertebrate model organisms, we have gained considerable knowledge regarding the origin, migration and differentiation of NCCs. However, our understanding of NCC development in human embryos remains largely uncharacterized, despite the role the neural crest plays in several human pathologies. Here, we report for the first time the expression of a battery of molecular markers before, during, or following NCC migration in human embryos from Carnegie Stages (CS) 12 to 18. Our work demonstrates the expression of Sox9, Sox10 and Pax3 transcription factors in premigratory NCCs, while actively migrating NCCs display the additional transcription factors Pax7 and AP-2alpha. Importantly, while HNK-1 labels few migrating NCCs, p75(NTR) labels a large proportion of this population. However, the broad expression of p75(NTR) - and other markers - beyond the neural crest stresses the need for the identification of additional markers to improve our capacity to investigate human NCC development, and to enable the generation of better diagnostic and therapeutic tools."

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* '''The neural border: Induction, specification and maturation of the territory that generates neural crest cells'''{{#pmid:29852131|PMID29852131}} "The neural crest is induced at the edge between the neural plate and the nonneural ectoderm, in an area called the neural (plate) border, during gastrulation and neurulation. In recent years, many studies have explored how this domain is patterned, and how the neural crest is induced within this territory, that also participates to the prospective dorsal neural tube, the dorsalmost nonneural ectoderm, as well as {{placode}} derivatives in the anterior area. This review highlights the tissue interactions, the cell-cell signaling and the molecular mechanisms involved in this dynamic spatiotemporal patterning, resulting in the induction of the premigratory neural crest. Collectively, these studies allow building a complex neural border and early neural crest gene regulatory network, mostly composed by transcriptional regulations but also, more recently, including novel signaling interactions."

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* '''Cranial neural crest migration: new rules for an old road.'''<ref><pubmed>20399765</pubmed></ref> "In this review, we discuss recent cellular and molecular discoveries of the CNCC migratory pattern. We focus on events from the time when CNCCs encounter the tissue adjacent to the neural tube and their travel through different microenvironments and into the branchial arches. We describe the patterning of discrete cell migratory streams that emerge from the hindbrain, rhombomere (r) segments r1-r7, and the signals that coordinate directed migration."

* '''Review - Development of interstitial cells of Cajal in the human digestive tract as the result of reciprocal induction of mesenchymal and neural crest cells'''{{#pmid:29193736|PMID29193736}} "Neural crest cells (NCC) can migrate into different parts of the body and express their strong inductive potential. In addition, they are multipotent and are able to differentiate into various cell types with diverse functions. In the primitive gut, NCC induce differentiation of muscular structures and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), and they themselves differentiate into the elements of the enteric nervous system (ENS), neurons and glial cells. ICC develop by way of mesenchymal cell differentiation in the outer parts of the primitive gut wall around the myenteric plexus (MP) ganglia, with the exception of colon, where they appear simultaneously also at the submucosal border of the circular muscular layer around the submucosal plexus (SMP) ganglia. ...Under the impact of stem cell factor (SCF), a portion of c-kit positive precursors lying immediately around the ganglia differentiate into ICC, while the rest differentiate into SMC." [[Neural Crest - Enteric Nervous System|Enteric Nervous System]]

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* '''Retinoic acid temporally orchestrates colonization of the gut by vagal neural crest cells'''{{#pmid:29108781|PMID29108781}} "The enteric nervous system arises from neural crest cells that migrate as chains into and along the primitive gut, subsequently differentiating into enteric neurons and glia. Little is known about the mechanisms governing neural crest migration en route to and along the gut in vivo. Here, we report that Retinoic Acid (RA) temporally controls zebrafish enteric neural crest cell chain migration. In vivo imaging reveals that RA loss severely compromises the integrity and migration of the chain of neural crest cells during the window of time window when they are moving along the foregut. After loss of RA, enteric progenitors accumulate in the foregut and differentiate into enteric neurons, but subsequently undergo apoptosis resulting in a striking neuronal deficit. Moreover, ectopic expression of the transcription factor meis3 and/or the receptor ret, partially rescues enteric neuron colonization after RA attenuation. Collectively, our findings suggest that retinoic acid plays a critical temporal role in promoting enteric neural crest chain migration and neuronal survival upstream of Meis3 and RET in vivo." [[Developmental Signals - Retinoic acid|Retinoic acid]] | {{Zebrafish}}

* '''Bone morphogenetic protein 4 promotes craniofacial neural crest induction from human pluripotent stem cells'''{{#pmid:26934293|PMID26934293}} "Neural crest (NC) cells are a group of cells located in the neural folds at the boundary between the neural and epidermal ectoderm. Cranial NC cells migrate to the branchial arches and give rise to the majority of the craniofacial region, whereas trunk and tail NC cells contribute to the heart, enteric ganglia of the gut, melanocytes, sympathetic ganglia, and adrenal chromaffin cells. ...These BMP4-treated NC cells were capable of differentiation into osteocytes and chondrocytes. The results of the present study indicate that BMP4 regulates cranial positioning during NC development." [[Developmental Signals - Bone Morphogenetic Protein|Bone Morphogenetic Protein]]

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* '''An essential role of variant histone h3.3 for ectomesenchyme potential of the cranial neural crest'''{{#pmid:23028350|PMID23028350}} "The neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific cell population that exhibits remarkable multipotency. Although derived from the neural plate border (NPB) ectoderm, cranial NC (CNC) cells contribute not only to the peripheral nervous system but also to the ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton. ...Surprisingly, embryo-wide expression of dominant mutant H3.3 had little effect on embryonic development outside CNC, indicating an unexpectedly specific sensitivity of CNC to defects in H3.3 incorporation. Whereas previous studies had implicated H3.3 in large-scale histone replacement events that generate totipotency during germ line development, our work has revealed an additional role of H3.3 in the broad potential of the ectoderm-derived CNC, including the ability to make the mesoderm-like ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton."

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+

* '''Dbx1-expressing cells are necessary for the survival of the mammalian anterior neural and craniofacial structures'''{{#pmid:21552538|PMID21552538}} "Development of the vertebrate forebrain and craniofacial structures are intimately linked processes, the coordinated growth of these tissues being required to ensure normal head formation. In this study, we identify five small subsets of progenitors expressing the transcription factor dbx1 in the cephalic region of developing mouse embryos at E8.5. ... Our results demonstrate that dbx1-expressing cells have a unique function during head development, notably by controlling cell survival in a non cell-autonomous manner."

+

+

* '''Analysis of early human neural crest development'''{{#pmid:20478300|PMID20478300}} "The outstanding migration and differentiation capacities of neural crest cells (NCCs) have fascinated scientists since Wilhelm His described this cell population in 1868. Today, after intense research using vertebrate model organisms, we have gained considerable knowledge regarding the origin, migration and differentiation of NCCs. However, our understanding of NCC development in human embryos remains largely uncharacterized, despite the role the neural crest plays in several human pathologies. Here, we report for the first time the expression of a battery of molecular markers before, during, or following NCC migration in human embryos from Carnegie Stages (CS) 12 to 18. Our work demonstrates the expression of Sox9, Sox10 and Pax3 transcription factors in premigratory NCCs, while actively migrating NCCs display the additional transcription factors Pax7 and AP-2alpha. Importantly, while HNK-1 labels few migrating NCCs, p75(NTR) labels a large proportion of this population. However, the broad expression of p75(NTR) - and other markers - beyond the neural crest stresses the need for the identification of additional markers to improve our capacity to investigate human NCC development, and to enable the generation of better diagnostic and therapeutic tools."

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+

* '''Cranial neural crest migration: new rules for an old road.'''{{#pmid:20399765|PMID20399765}} "In this review, we discuss recent cellular and molecular discoveries of the CNCC migratory pattern. We focus on events from the time when CNCCs encounter the tissue adjacent to the neural tube and their travel through different microenvironments and into the branchial arches. We describe the patterning of discrete cell migratory streams that emerge from the hindbrain, rhombomere (r) segments r1-r7, and the signals that coordinate directed migration."

* [http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&isbn=978-0-443-06811-9&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06811-9..10010-7 Chapter 10 - Development of the Peripheral Nervous System] (chapter links only work with a UNSW connection).

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* Chapter 16 - Development of the Pharyngeal Apparatus and Face

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* [http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&isbn=978-0-443-06811-9&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-443-06811-9..10016-8 Chapter 16 - Development of the Pharyngeal Apparatus and Face] (chapter links only work with a UNSW connection).

(organ of Zuckerkandl, OZ) A neural crest derived chromaffin body, anatomically located at the bifurcation of the aorta or at the origin of the inferior mesenteric artery. Thought to act as a fetal regulator of blood pressure, secreting catecholamines into the fetal circulation.{{#pmid:13107111|PMID13107111}} In human, reaches its maximal size at 3 years of age and then regresses either by death, dispersion or differentiation.{{#pmid:23078542|PMID23078542}}

The following cranial and trunk data is based upon 185 serially sectioned staged (Carnegie) human embryos.{{#pmid:17848161|PMID17848161}}

===Cranial Neural Crest===

===Cranial Neural Crest===

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{{Cranial Neural Crest Timeline table}}

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* '''stage 9''' - an indication of mesencephalic neural crest

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===Trunk Neural Crest===

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* '''stage 10''' - trigeminal, facial, and postotic components

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Spinal ganglia increase in number over time and are in phase with the somites, though not their centre. There are 3 migratory pathways: ventrolateral between dermatomyotome and sclerotome, ventromedial between neural tube and sclerotomes, and lateral between surface ectoderm and dermatomyotome.

Recent research suggests that the vagal neural crest cells are a transitional population that has evolved between the head and the trunk, taking separate pathways to the both the heart and to the gut.<ref><pubmed>20962585</pubmed></ref><ref>Bryan R. Kuo, Carol A. Erickson '''Vagal neural crest cell migratory behavior: A transition between the cranial and trunk crest.''' Volume 240, Issue 9, pages 2084–2100, September 2011 [http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/dvdy.22715/abstract Dev Dynamics]</ref>

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===Trunk Neural Crest===

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* Vagal segment arise at the level of somites 1–7

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Spinal ganglia increase in number over time and are in phase with the somites, though not their centre. There are 3 migratory pathways: ventrolateral between dermatomyotome and sclerotome, ventromedial between neural tube and sclerotomes, and lateral between surface ectoderm and dermatomyotome.

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** leave neural crest at week 4 and also populate the pharyngeal arches.

Recent research suggests that the vagal neural crest cells are a transitional population that has evolved between the head and the trunk, taking separate pathways to the both the heart and to the gut.{{#pmid:20962585|PMID20962585}}{{#pmid:22016183|PMID22016183}}

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===Sacral Neural Crest===

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* Sacral segment arises caudally to somite 28

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** contributes to the enteric nervous system along the postumbilical gut

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* '''stage 13''' - about 19 present

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* '''stage 14''' - about 33 present

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* '''stage 15-23''' - 30–35 ganglia

===Neck and Shoulder===

===Neck and Shoulder===

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A mouse study using individually labelled cells of postotic neural crest followed the development of the shoulder girdle (clavicle and scapula) that connects the upper limb to the axial skeleton.<ref><pubmed>16034409</pubmed>| [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1352163 PMC1352163]| [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v436/n7049/full/nature03837.html Nature]</ref>

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A mouse study using individually labelled cells of postotic neural crest followed the development of the shoulder girdle (clavicle and scapula) that connects the upper limb to the axial skeleton.{{#pmid:16034409|PMID16034409}}

* '''versican''' - (VCAN, Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 2; Cspg2) an extracellular matrix proteoglycan that acts as both an inhibitor of NCC migration and as a guiding cue by forming exclusionary boundaries.{{#pmid:27241911|PMID27241911}}

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:Links: [https://www.omim.org/entry/118661 OMIM 118661]

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==Historic==

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The paper by Marshall, Morphology of the Vertebrate Olfactory Organ (1879)<ref name=Marshall1879 />, was historically the first time the term "''neural crest''" was used. In his own earlier papers he had referred to this as a "neural ridge" in describing development of the chicken embryo neural tube.

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See [[Paper - 1879 The Morphology of the Vertebrate Olfactory Organ#NeuralCrest|paper text]] and his referenced comment:

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:"I take this opportunity to make a slight alteration in the nomenclature adopted in my former paper. I have there suggested the term ''neural ridge'' for the longitudinal ridge of cells which grows out from the reentering angle between the external epiblast and the neural canal, and from which the nerves, whether cranial or spinal, arise. Since this ridge appears before closure of the neural canal is effected, there are manifestly ''two'' neural ridges, one on either side ; but I have also applied the same term, ''neural ridge'', to the single outgrowth formed by the fusion of the neural ridges of the two sides after complete closure of the neural canal is effected, and after the external epiblast has become completely separated from the neural canal. I propose in future to speak of this single median outgrowth as the '''''neural crest''''', limiting the term ''neural ridge'' to the former acceptation. Thus, while there are two neural ridges, there is only one neural crest, a distinction that will be at once evident on reference to my former figures."

Introduction

The neural crest are bilaterally paired strips of cells arising in the ectoderm at the margins of the neural tube. These cells migrate to many different locations and differentiate into many cell types within the embryo. This means that many different systems (neural, skin, teeth, head, face, heart, adrenal glands, gastrointestinal tract) will also have a contribution fron the neural crest cells. An in vitro study[1] has shown neural crest cell migration occurs at different rates along the embryo axis between Carnegie stage 11 to 13 in week 4.

In the head region, neural crest cells migrate into the pharyngeal arches (as shown in movie below) forming ectomesenchyme contributing tissues which in the body region are typically derived from mesoderm (cartilage, bone, and connective tissue). General neural development is also covered in Neural Notes.

Arthur Milnes Marshall (1852–1893) at Cambridge in 1879 historically first described this embryonic region. In his study of dogfish and chicken brain development, and identified it as "neural crest".[2]

Some Recent Findings

Krox20 defines a subpopulation of cardiac neural crest cells contributing to arterial valves and bicuspid aortic valve Development[4] "Although cardiac neural crest cells are required at early stages of arterial valve development, their contribution during valvular leaflet maturation remains poorly understood. Here, we show in mouse that neural crest cells from pre-otic and post-otic regions make distinct contributions to the arterial valve leaflets.... Our findings demonstrate a crucial role for Krox20 in arterial valve development and reveal that an excess of neural crest cells may be associated with bicuspid aortic valve." heart

The neural border: Induction, specification and maturation of the territory that generates neural crest cells[5] "The neural crest is induced at the edge between the neural plate and the nonneural ectoderm, in an area called the neural (plate) border, during gastrulation and neurulation. In recent years, many studies have explored how this domain is patterned, and how the neural crest is induced within this territory, that also participates to the prospective dorsal neural tube, the dorsalmost nonneural ectoderm, as well as placode derivatives in the anterior area. This review highlights the tissue interactions, the cell-cell signaling and the molecular mechanisms involved in this dynamic spatiotemporal patterning, resulting in the induction of the premigratory neural crest. Collectively, these studies allow building a complex neural border and early neural crest gene regulatory network, mostly composed by transcriptional regulations but also, more recently, including novel signaling interactions."

Review - Development of interstitial cells of Cajal in the human digestive tract as the result of reciprocal induction of mesenchymal and neural crest cells[6] "Neural crest cells (NCC) can migrate into different parts of the body and express their strong inductive potential. In addition, they are multipotent and are able to differentiate into various cell types with diverse functions. In the primitive gut, NCC induce differentiation of muscular structures and interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), and they themselves differentiate into the elements of the enteric nervous system (ENS), neurons and glial cells. ICC develop by way of mesenchymal cell differentiation in the outer parts of the primitive gut wall around the myenteric plexus (MP) ganglia, with the exception of colon, where they appear simultaneously also at the submucosal border of the circular muscular layer around the submucosal plexus (SMP) ganglia. ...Under the impact of stem cell factor (SCF), a portion of c-kit positive precursors lying immediately around the ganglia differentiate into ICC, while the rest differentiate into SMC." Enteric Nervous System

Retinoic acid temporally orchestrates colonization of the gut by vagal neural crest cells[7] "The enteric nervous system arises from neural crest cells that migrate as chains into and along the primitive gut, subsequently differentiating into enteric neurons and glia. Little is known about the mechanisms governing neural crest migration en route to and along the gut in vivo. Here, we report that Retinoic Acid (RA) temporally controls zebrafish enteric neural crest cell chain migration. In vivo imaging reveals that RA loss severely compromises the integrity and migration of the chain of neural crest cells during the window of time window when they are moving along the foregut. After loss of RA, enteric progenitors accumulate in the foregut and differentiate into enteric neurons, but subsequently undergo apoptosis resulting in a striking neuronal deficit. Moreover, ectopic expression of the transcription factor meis3 and/or the receptor ret, partially rescues enteric neuron colonization after RA attenuation. Collectively, our findings suggest that retinoic acid plays a critical temporal role in promoting enteric neural crest chain migration and neuronal survival upstream of Meis3 and RET in vivo." Retinoic acid | zebrafish

More recent papers

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This search now requires a manual link as the original PubMed extension has been disabled.

The displayed list of references do not reflect any editorial selection of material based on content or relevance.

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References listed on the rest of the content page and the associated discussion page (listed under the publication year sub-headings) do include some editorial selection based upon both relevance and availability.

Bone morphogenetic protein 4 promotes craniofacial neural crest induction from human pluripotent stem cells[8] "Neural crest (NC) cells are a group of cells located in the neural folds at the boundary between the neural and epidermal ectoderm. Cranial NC cells migrate to the branchial arches and give rise to the majority of the craniofacial region, whereas trunk and tail NC cells contribute to the heart, enteric ganglia of the gut, melanocytes, sympathetic ganglia, and adrenal chromaffin cells. ...These BMP4-treated NC cells were capable of differentiation into osteocytes and chondrocytes. The results of the present study indicate that BMP4 regulates cranial positioning during NC development." Bone Morphogenetic Protein

An essential role of variant histone h3.3 for ectomesenchyme potential of the cranial neural crest[3] "The neural crest (NC) is a vertebrate-specific cell population that exhibits remarkable multipotency. Although derived from the neural plate border (NPB) ectoderm, cranial NC (CNC) cells contribute not only to the peripheral nervous system but also to the ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton. ...Surprisingly, embryo-wide expression of dominant mutant H3.3 had little effect on embryonic development outside CNC, indicating an unexpectedly specific sensitivity of CNC to defects in H3.3 incorporation. Whereas previous studies had implicated H3.3 in large-scale histone replacement events that generate totipotency during germ line development, our work has revealed an additional role of H3.3 in the broad potential of the ectoderm-derived CNC, including the ability to make the mesoderm-like ectomesenchymal precursors of the head skeleton."

Dbx1-expressing cells are necessary for the survival of the mammalian anterior neural and craniofacial structures[9] "Development of the vertebrate forebrain and craniofacial structures are intimately linked processes, the coordinated growth of these tissues being required to ensure normal head formation. In this study, we identify five small subsets of progenitors expressing the transcription factor dbx1 in the cephalic region of developing mouse embryos at E8.5. ... Our results demonstrate that dbx1-expressing cells have a unique function during head development, notably by controlling cell survival in a non cell-autonomous manner."

Analysis of early human neural crest development[10] "The outstanding migration and differentiation capacities of neural crest cells (NCCs) have fascinated scientists since Wilhelm His described this cell population in 1868. Today, after intense research using vertebrate model organisms, we have gained considerable knowledge regarding the origin, migration and differentiation of NCCs. However, our understanding of NCC development in human embryos remains largely uncharacterized, despite the role the neural crest plays in several human pathologies. Here, we report for the first time the expression of a battery of molecular markers before, during, or following NCC migration in human embryos from Carnegie Stages (CS) 12 to 18. Our work demonstrates the expression of Sox9, Sox10 and Pax3 transcription factors in premigratory NCCs, while actively migrating NCCs display the additional transcription factors Pax7 and AP-2alpha. Importantly, while HNK-1 labels few migrating NCCs, p75(NTR) labels a large proportion of this population. However, the broad expression of p75(NTR) - and other markers - beyond the neural crest stresses the need for the identification of additional markers to improve our capacity to investigate human NCC development, and to enable the generation of better diagnostic and therapeutic tools."

Cranial neural crest migration: new rules for an old road.[11] "In this review, we discuss recent cellular and molecular discoveries of the CNCC migratory pattern. We focus on events from the time when CNCCs encounter the tissue adjacent to the neural tube and their travel through different microenvironments and into the branchial arches. We describe the patterning of discrete cell migratory streams that emerge from the hindbrain, rhombomere (r) segments r1-r7, and the signals that coordinate directed migration."

Neural Crest Migration

Neural crest cell migration involves an initial epithelial mesenchymal transition to delaminate from the ectoderm layer.
Then these neural crest cells, depending upon the rostrocaudal level within the embryo, migrate throughout the embryo with distinct morphological patterns:

Data Origin:Bioportal Uberon is an integrated cross-species anatomy ontology representing a variety of entities classified according to traditional anatomical criteria such as structure, function and developmental lineage.

para-aortic body

(organ of Zuckerkandl, OZ) A neural crest derived chromaffin body, anatomically located at the bifurcation of the aorta or at the origin of the inferior mesenteric artery. Thought to act as a fetal regulator of blood pressure, secreting catecholamines into the fetal circulation.[20] In human, reaches its maximal size at 3 years of age and then regresses either by death, dispersion or differentiation.[21]

Named in 1901 by Emil Zuckerkandl (1849-1910) a Hungarian-Austrian anatomist at the University of Vienna.

Trunk Neural Crest

Spinal ganglia increase in number over time and are in phase with the somites, though not their centre. There are 3 migratory pathways: ventrolateral between dermatomyotome and sclerotome, ventromedial between neural tube and sclerotomes, and lateral between surface ectoderm and dermatomyotome.

Recent research suggests that the vagal neural crest cells are a transitional population that has evolved between the head and the trunk, taking separate pathways to the both the heart and to the gut.[23][24]

Sacral Neural Crest

Sacral segment arises caudally to somite 28

contributes to the enteric nervous system along the postumbilical gut

Neck and Shoulder

A mouse study using individually labelled cells of postotic neural crest followed the development of the shoulder girdle (clavicle and scapula) that connects the upper limb to the axial skeleton.[25]

Stimulators

Inhibitors

versican - (VCAN, Chondroitin Sulfate Proteoglycan 2; Cspg2) an extracellular matrix proteoglycan that acts as both an inhibitor of NCC migration and as a guiding cue by forming exclusionary boundaries.[28]

Historic

The paper by Marshall, Morphology of the Vertebrate Olfactory Organ (1879)[2], was historically the first time the term "neural crest" was used. In his own earlier papers he had referred to this as a "neural ridge" in describing development of the chicken embryo neural tube.

"I take this opportunity to make a slight alteration in the nomenclature adopted in my former paper. I have there suggested the term neural ridge for the longitudinal ridge of cells which grows out from the reentering angle between the external epiblast and the neural canal, and from which the nerves, whether cranial or spinal, arise. Since this ridge appears before closure of the neural canal is effected, there are manifestly two neural ridges, one on either side ; but I have also applied the same term, neural ridge, to the single outgrowth formed by the fusion of the neural ridges of the two sides after complete closure of the neural canal is effected, and after the external epiblast has become completely separated from the neural canal. I propose in future to speak of this single median outgrowth as the neural crest, limiting the term neural ridge to the former acceptation. Thus, while there are two neural ridges, there is only one neural crest, a distinction that will be at once evident on reference to my former figures."

Additional Images

Historic Images

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Pages where the terms "Historic Textbook" and "Historic Embryology" appear on this site, and sections within pages where this disclaimer appears, indicate that the content and scientific understanding are specific to the time of publication. This means that while some scientific descriptions are still accurate, the terminology and interpretation of the developmental mechanisms reflect the understanding at the time of original publication and those of the preceding periods, these terms and interpretations may not reflect our current scientific understanding. (More? Embryology History | Historic Embryology Papers)